Best Land Rover for Columbus Road Trips, Pets, Golf & Weekend Gear
Picking out a new vehicle requires answering several important questions, but two are right at the top of the list: Who is going to use it and why? Land Rover might seem like a monolithic brand to many, with a line of luxury sport utility vehicles that expertly blend world-class refinement with a decades-long legacy of off-road capability, but there’s plenty of nuance between models. The dog lover taking their best friends for a swim at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park might need a different ride than a large family leaving Central Ohio for a long weekend. This quick guide, written by the team at Land Rover Easton, can help sort things out by explaining which Land Rovers are best for different situations and why. Want to learn more? Give us a call or stop by our location adjacent to Easton Town Center, and we’d be happy to help you along your journey!
Best Land Rover for Road Trips
Range Rover
As great of a city as Columbus is, sometimes you need to go somewhere else for a day or a week. And with its top-end luxury features, the Range Rover is the vehicle to get you there. Its powerful engine options — a 3.0L I-6 generating 395 horsepower is standard — make the long interstate miles effortlessly melt away under effortless, barely-noticeable motion. Meanwhile, the standard adaptive cruise control removes the mental fatigue of constantly calibrating your speed. Along the journey, you’ll ride in perforated Windsor or semi-aniline leather seats, while standard three-zone climate control, 10-way adjustable front-row seats, and a 13.1-inch infotainment display help keep the conditions ideal. The Range Rover also boasts an impressive 40.7 cubic feet of cargo space, even with all seating in place.
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Also consider: Discovery Sport
Though in most ways a significantly different vehicle than the Range Rover, the Discovery Sport is ideal for many types of road trips. For example, if your road trip involves bicycles, kayaks, or anything that can fit in a cargo box, the Discovery Sport’s 165-pound roof load capacity and available roof rails may be of interest. It also has plenty of off-road and bad-weather capability, as well as 32.4 cubic feet of interior cargo space.
Best Land Rover for Families
Defender 110
The Defender 110 has long been considered the ideal vehicle for families. Perhaps the one thing it does better than any other contender is strike the perfect balance between passenger space and cargo space. The standard setup features five seats in two rows, though it can also be configured with three rows and seating for up to seven people. Meanwhile, even when fully occupied, it offers 34.0 cubic feet of cargo space, more than enough to fit groceries, the kids’ sports equipment, or both, while folding the rear seats down brings that number up to a massive 78.8 cubic feet. That isn’t the only balance expertly struck by the Defender 110, which also includes comfort features that reach all two or three rows, as well as off-road capabilities.
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Also consider: Defender 130
Ultimately, the question of the ideal Land Rover for a family comes down to the family itself. A large family, or one expected to grow in the near future, may prefer the Defender 130, the largest model available. With its three rows, spacious seating for up to eight, and a towing capacity of 8,200 pounds, the Defender 130 is built with the size to handle just about every family situation and interest.
Best Land Rover for Dogs
Discovery
An estimated half of all Land Rover drivers also own dogs, and any of them can tell you that driving around with a four-legged best friend brings a whole new category of concerns not addressed by a typical spec sheet (certainly, many of those dog owners have tried to clean hair off of upholstery at some point). That concern is a big part of what makes the Discovery an ideal choice for canine-related quests, as it offers 74.3 cubic feet of space for a dog to explore (or sleep), and ample flat area to lay down appropriate protection. Meanwhile, the Discovery’s low loading height makes hopping into the back much easier than in similar vehicles, and it has the appropriate connections to install a specialized partition. Beyond all of that, Land Rover offers dedicated Pet Packs for the Discovery. These include optimized accessories like a quilted floor liner, a spill-resistant water bowl, and a foldable access ramp.
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Also consider: Defender 110
Those Pet Packs are also available for the Defender 110, another very good option for dog owners. However, a lot of what makes it ideal is an expansive cargo area. Crucially, it’s lined with rubber that’s both strong enough to resist claw marks and easy to wipe clean. If you have multiple dogs, large breeds, or simply ones that like to make a mess, you’ll probably find good value in the Defender 110.
Best Land Rover for Golf Clubs
Range Rover
Columbus is a world-famous golf city, thanks largely Jack Nicklaus and Dublin’s Muirfield Village, but other clubs like the Scioto Country Club, the Worthington Hills Country Club, Ohio State’s courses, and public venues like the Donald Ross-designed Denison Golf Club just 40 minutes away help bolster that reputation. It’s imperative to get the right vehicle for both you and your bag as you head out to play those courses, or any others. Fortunately, all of the characteristics that make the Range Rover ideal for road trips also apply to the (usually) shorter drive to the first tee. On top of that, its wide rear loadspace hatch makes loading and unloading your clubs a snap.
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Also consider: Range Rover Sport
If you don’t mind shedding a little volume to pick up some additional performance, the Range Rover Sport is a more-than-worthy golfing option. It has a lower stance and athletic handling, delivering the same power as its larger namesake in a frame that helps the driver connect to the road. With 38.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row, it certainly doesn’t sacrifice much carrying ability in the transition.
Best Land Rover for Winter Driving
Defender 110
As you undoubtedly know, winters in Central Ohio can be brutal, though it certainly helps when you have unwavering confidence that your vehicle will get you where you need to go safely. To that end, there truly is no wrong choice within the Land Rover lineup, as each vehicle’s all-wheel drive and advanced traction control systems are more than enough to get the job done. However, the Defender 110 takes things to another level, with its off-road chops that also help out when the road is present, but invisible. Its standard Terrain Response 2 system constantly optimizes power and traction based on the conditions, redistributing power as soon as slippage is detected. The Defender 110 also has an adaptive off-road cruise control feature that can help you stay on course.
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Also consider: Range Rover Sport
The nice thing about the Range Rover Sport in winter driving is its ability to deliver power and handling in a way that still allows the driver to be responsive to the conditions. The available Dynamic Response and Terrain Response systems take care of things outside, while heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and windshield defrosters make sure you stay comfortable inside.